1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser beam printer apparatus or an electrostatic copying machine and, in particular, a mechanism for printing an image on a material a plurality of times when it is done on a double-sided print or a multi-print mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an image forming apparatus, such as a laser beam printer apparatus, records image information on a photoconductor with the use of a laser beam and includes an image forming section for making image information visible and a paper feeding mechanism for feeding visible image information bearing paper to an image forming section. The image forming section records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor by ON/OFF controlling a laser beam, originating from a semiconductor laser, by an image information signal. The electrostatic latent image is visualized or developed, by an image forming unit, with the use of an image forming agent or toner. The developed image or toner image is transferred to the paper supplied through the paper feeding mechanism, and thermally fixed to the paper.
In this type of printer apparatus, a paper is supplied to an image forming section through paper cassettes where sheets of paper are stored according to their size. In this case, the paper cassettes are externally supplied via access slots which are provided at the end of the printer apparatus. In order to print the printer apparatus, it is necessary to secure a greater operation area than an area occupied by the apparatus itself.
In the printer apparatus, many spacings are provided which are necessary to remove paper from within the apparatus if the paper is jammed. Such spacings have to be increased if the printer apparatus is made for a double-sided print or multi-print mode. These spacings are sometimes not desirable, making the printer apparatus unduly bulky.